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The cost of sin: The effect of social norms on audit pricing

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  • Leventis, Stergios
  • Hasan, Iftekhar
  • Dedoulis, Emmanouil

Abstract

In this paper we provide evidence for the effects of social norms on audit pricing by studying companies belonging to the alcohol, firearms, gambling, military, nuclear power, and tobacco industries, which are often described as “sin” companies. We hypothesize that the disparities between “sin” firms operations and prevailing social norms create an adverse context which heightens the client's business risk assessment by auditors and is, thereby, reflected in the pricing decisions for audit and consulting services. Having controlled for the impact of variables relating to client attributes, auditor attributes and engagement attributes, we demonstrate that audit firms charge significantly higher audit and consulting fees to companies that deviate from prevailing social norms. Additionally, we show that audit pricing levels within the “sin” group depend both on prevailing political views and on the level of “vice” exhibited by “sin” companies.

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  • Leventis, Stergios & Hasan, Iftekhar & Dedoulis, Emmanouil, 2013. "The cost of sin: The effect of social norms on audit pricing," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 152-165.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finana:v:29:y:2013:i:c:p:152-165
    DOI: 10.1016/j.irfa.2013.03.006
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    Cited by:

    1. Leventis, Stergios, 2018. "An empirical test of SEC enforcement in the audit market," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 106-116.
    2. Stergios Leventis & Emmanouil Dedoulis & Omneya Abdelsalam, 2018. "The Impact of Religiosity on Audit Pricing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(1), pages 53-78, March.
    3. Yang Zhang, 2018. "Corporate Governance Effects on Risk Management and Shareholder Wealth: The Case of Mergers and Acquisitions," PhD Thesis, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney, number 4-2018.
    4. Du, Shuili & Xu, Xiaolu & Yu, Kun, 2020. "Does corporate social responsibility affect auditor-client contracting? Evidence from auditor selection and audit fees," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    5. Jeffrey L. Callen & Xiaohua Fang, 2020. "Local Gambling Norms and Audit Pricing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 151-173, June.
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    7. Novak, Jiri & Bilinski, Pawel, 2018. "Social stigma and executive compensation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 169-184.
    8. Grougiou, Vassiliki & Leventis, Stergios & Dedoulis, Emmanouil & Owusu-Ansah, Stephen, 2014. "Corporate social responsibility and earnings management in U.S. banks," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 155-169.
    9. Nelson Areal & Ana Carvalho, 2018. "A value-based approach to business model innovation: Defining the elements of the concept," NIPE Working Papers 13/2018, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    10. Benlemlih, Mohammed, 2017. "Corporate social responsibility and firm financing decisions: A literature review," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 42, pages 1-10.
    11. Yongqiang Gao & Miaohan Zhang & Haibin Yang, 2023. "Looking Good in the Eyes of Stakeholders: Corporate Giving and Corporate Acquisitions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(2), pages 375-396, June.
    12. Grougiou, Vassiliki & Dedoulis, Emmanouil & Leventis, Stergios, 2016. "Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting and Organizational Stigma: The Case of “Sin” Industries," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 905-914.
    13. Hannah Oh & John Bae & Sang-Joon Kim, 2017. "Can Sinful Firms Benefit from Advertising Their CSR Efforts? Adverse Effect of Advertising Sinful Firms’ CSR Engagements on Firm Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(4), pages 643-663, July.
    14. Alrashidi, Rasheed & Baboukardos, Diogenis & Arun, Thankom, 2021. "Audit fees, non-audit fees and access to finance: Evidence from India," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
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    16. Crowley, Patrick M. & Garcia, Enrique & Quah, Chee-Heong, 2013. "Is Europe growing together or growing apart?," Research Discussion Papers 33/2013, Bank of Finland.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social norms; Audit pricing; Controversial industries; Sin companies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

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